What if, though, the Destination Hex is a port, and Allow Disband is set? Will the TF "retire" into its current port? Or, do I have to set the Home port to the destination port to get that to happen?

Also, if the TF is a transport, but you don't wish for it to actually carry anything, will it leave port immediately if you do not attempt to load it, or will it wait around? (I think I'm seeing that they eventually leave--it could be they are low on OPS, so they don't go right away, but would if they had the OPS.)

I'm trying to evacuate the Philippines, and I'm not recalling what the proper way to do that would be.

Allow Disband - the TF returns & disbands at its home-port, not its destination. if desired, set the home-port to its new home, then tag the 'return to' button at lower-left of the TF screen, that'll auto-set the TF destination. in my game, a TF arriving at a small port will not always auto-disband, even though it's set to be the home-port. this might be a bug, or just a lack of ops points, or a carryover from the designed feature that requires you to always dock an unloading TF manually at a small port.

a TransTF will leave w/o a cargo, but will use ops points to refuel before it leaves port. if you're in a hurry, change 'full refuel' to 'minimum refuel'. 'min refuel' gives you enough fuel to go to your destination & return to your home port +10%. or set it to 'no refuel' and way-point to an intermediate refueling point.

Home Port is very important. While you can replenish a fleet and it can operate just fine with it's Home Port on the other side of the map, there is some logic that uses home port.

If a TF withdraws after a combat, it beelines it towards it's home port. If a CVTF avoids contact, it beelines it towards it's home port.

So mind where your home port is located if you are operating in non-friendly waters.

Regarding Retirement Allowed, this can be a bad idea if the direct line between your destination and home port goes through enemy water. Like between Pearl Harbor and Sydney. You'll find your allied ships sailing past Japanese occupied Guadalcanal, and through Marshals.

I default most of my fleets to remain on station, only using retirement allowed when I specifically want that behavior. Which is unfortunate, because Retirement Allowed is default in the game.

ORIGINAL: aphrochine Regarding Retirement Allowed, this can be a bad idea if the direct line between your destination and home port goes through enemy water. Like between Pearl Harbor and Sydney. You'll find your allied ships sailing past Japanese occupied Guadalcanal, and through Marshals.

waypoints are useful here, from PH/WC to Sydney, waypoint south of air-search from enemy-held atolls. turn 'return same route' on. support the 'southern route' w/ Cats/AVDs.

I hate clogging up the forum with 1-off questions, so gonna put one here--almost the same topic.

What's the typical consist of various TFs? I'm mostly curious about the long runs across generally empty ocean, but I suppose it's more important in the contested areas.

I was under the impression that historically, cargo TFs ran relatively small, 3-5 cargo ships, with a DD and CL running with them, though I honestly don't recall where I picked that tidbit up. I've read a few AARs on here that send DMs along with AKs, but I haven't really decided if that's because they have decent ASW, or if there are just a lot of DMs, so they get used for various roles that don't involve mines.

If there are surface raiders, you should include some combat ships. Maybe even some local air-search support.

If there is occasional submarine, one escort is enough, to discourage SS from surfacing, and attacking your transports with deck guns. Of course, it is better to have several ships, with good ASW, to sink any encountered submarine.

AMs can be useful, when enemy tends to drop some mines into your ports.

But generally, try to build your transport TFs to fit ports, and have ships of comparable speed. And enough range, so they do not refuel constantly and slow your voyage.

What if, though, the Destination Hex is a port, and Allow Disband is set? Will the TF "retire" into its current port? Or, do I have to set the Home port to the destination port to get that to happen?

Also, if the TF is a transport, but you don't wish for it to actually carry anything, will it leave port immediately if you do not attempt to load it, or will it wait around? (I think I'm seeing that they eventually leave--it could be they are low on OPS, so they don't go right away, but would if they had the OPS.)

I'm trying to evacuate the Philippines, and I'm not recalling what the proper way to do that would be.

Thank you!

Chad S.

Hello, Chad, welcome to the funny farm!

I've set surface combat TFs on missions to engage enemy forces with "Allow Retirement" set and found them heading back to port after meeting an enemy force. I've also had ASW TFs set on patrol zones with "Allow Retirement" only to find them back in port after engaging an enemy sub. I find I have better results with my TFs actually engaging the enemy and staying in the area if I set "Remain on Station"

many allied transports carry enough fuel to make the WC-Sydney round-trip w/o refueling, and an escort or 2 will drink from them as needed en route. set fully-fueled convoys departing the WC to 'do not refuel' or 'min refuel', it takes effort to ship fuel to Oz & your islands, it don't make sense to send this fuel back to the states in an xAKs bunkers.

then certain off-map ports (i'm looking at YOU, Cape Town) have dicey fuel situations for the 1st year or so. i ship lots of fuel there from the EC, and set all convoys departing Cape Town to 'min refuel'. it's easy to drink Cape Town dry, and 1 month or so after that, your ships will be immobilized there. set ships arriving at CT from on-map to disband w/o refueling, when you create a convoy there to go on-map, set it to 'min refuel' so it only takes on enough fuel to make the trip.

OK, I've seen this one a couple of times, but haven't figured it out yet--Oz? I don't guess that's in Kansas, is it?

Something that came up on CombatReporter last night indicated that I was running low on oil for Heavy Industry. But, I was under the impression that Allies don't really need to worry about oil and resources. Is there any point in moving these around, and if so, where should they get moved to?

I've been following Sardaukar's newbie AAR, and that's been a fantastic help, but I'm not entirely clear about where smart places are to stockpile supplies and fuel, other than Suva and Pearl. I'm assuming there's somewhere in Australia that is commonly used. Are there other natural distribution centers?

OK, I've seen this one a couple of times, but haven't figured it out yet--Oz? I don't guess that's in Kansas, is it?

Oz = Australia, a wonderful place to visit if you are single, American, and male.

Something that came up on CombatReporter last night indicated that I was running low on oil for Heavy Industry. But, I was under the impression that Allies don't really need to worry about oil and resources. Is there any point in moving these around, and if so, where should they get moved to?

I've been following Sardaukar's newbie AAR, and that's been a fantastic help, but I'm not entirely clear about where smart places are to stockpile supplies and fuel, other than Suva and Pearl. I'm assuming there's somewhere in Australia that is commonly used. Are there other natural distribution centers?

There are many threads devoted to Allied logistics. I'd do some poking and some experimenting. You'll get lots of POVs if you ask here and all will have pros and cons. Me, I wouldn't put a can of corn in Suva let alone make it a major log base. Other opinions differ.

Well...Suva is basically one of the very few places that can hold infinite amount supplies & fuel when build up. New Caledonia of course too, but then it's same as taking it all the way to Sydney anyway. PagoPago might work too. Of course you need to heavily garrison those places anyway against invasion.

Of course, if scenario has Heavy Industry in Pearl Harbor, you can make CS convoy from Hilo to PH to transport Resources from Hilo to PH to optimize production. There are some other small things like that, but it's just fine tuning and not at all necessary.

Well...Suva is basically one of the very few places that can hold infinite amount supplies & fuel when build up. New Caledonia of course too, but then it's same as taking it all the way to Sydney anyway. PagoPago might work too. Of course you need to heavily garrison those places anyway against invasion.

Sardaukar, I disagree here.

In my opinion Suva is actually one of the worst possible positions for a staging post as it usually is on the Japanese nice-to-have list, exactly because of its obvious role.

As aphrochine said, the area ia full of bases which can be built up for the job, the most obvious one (and also chosen in my last PBEM) is Vavau. Bigger harbour than Suva if you build it up, in case you need to. But it is by far not the only one: Lifuka, Tongatapu, and further south a few places in the Cook Islands, last but not least, Tahiti, if you really have to deviate far South because of a Japanese attack.

I reccommend building up an efficient and a alternate route, where the alternate can be used in case the efficient one is threatened. When the fronts stabilize the routes obviousely move a bit further North, maybe along the Phoenix/Ellis Islands and later the Gilberts and Marshalls, if this is still neccesary by then.

Well...Suva is basically one of the very few places that can hold infinite amount supplies & fuel when build up. New Caledonia of course too, but then it's same as taking it all the way to Sydney anyway. PagoPago might work too. Of course you need to heavily garrison those places anyway against invasion.

Sardaukar, I disagree here.

In my opinion Suva is actually one of the worst possible positions for a staging post as it usually is on the Japanese nice-to-have list, exactly because of its obvious role.

As aphrochine said, the area ia full of bases which can be built up for the job, the most obvious one (and also chosen in my last PBEM) is Vavau. Bigger harbour than Suva if you build it up, in case you need to. But it is by far not the only one: Lifuka, Tongatapu, and further south a few places in the Cook Islands, last but not least, Tahiti, if you really have to deviate far South because of a Japanese attack.

I reccommend building up an efficient and a alternate route, where the alternate can be used in case the efficient one is threatened. When the fronts stabilize the routes obviousely move a bit further North, maybe along the Phoenix/Ellis Islands and later the Gilberts and Marshalls, if this is still neccesary by then.

+1

As an IJ player, Suva is almost always on my "knock it down" list. I frequently won't hold it, just take it and then use it only as a picket ...

Well...Suva is basically one of the very few places that can hold infinite amount supplies & fuel when build up. New Caledonia of course too, but then it's same as taking it all the way to Sydney anyway. PagoPago might work too. Of course you need to heavily garrison those places anyway against invasion.

Sardaukar, I disagree here.

In my opinion Suva is actually one of the worst possible positions for a staging post as it usually is on the Japanese nice-to-have list, exactly because of its obvious role.

As aphrochine said, the area ia full of bases which can be built up for the job, the most obvious one (and also chosen in my last PBEM) is Vavau. Bigger harbour than Suva if you build it up, in case you need to. But it is by far not the only one: Lifuka, Tongatapu, and further south a few places in the Cook Islands, last but not least, Tahiti, if you really have to deviate far South because of a Japanese attack.

I reccommend building up an efficient and a alternate route, where the alternate can be used in case the efficient one is threatened. When the fronts stabilize the routes obviousely move a bit further North, maybe along the Phoenix/Ellis Islands and later the Gilberts and Marshalls, if this is still neccesary by then.

Well..you need base that can be build to 10 combined (airfield and port combined, 5+5 as average) to make it really viable supply hub. Of course Suva is high on IJ list for obvious reasons, and similarly Allies should make big effort to retain it.

There are alternatives, as you and others have stated, and they work well too. Just that losing Suva & New Caledonia forces Allies to have fairly limited "Central Pacific strategy". Suva is both excellent supply dump and staging area for future advance.

Well...Suva is basically one of the very few places that can hold infinite amount supplies & fuel when build up. New Caledonia of course too, but then it's same as taking it all the way to Sydney anyway. PagoPago might work too. Of course you need to heavily garrison those places anyway against invasion.

Sardaukar, I disagree here.

In my opinion Suva is actually one of the worst possible positions for a staging post as it usually is on the Japanese nice-to-have list, exactly because of its obvious role.

As aphrochine said, the area ia full of bases which can be built up for the job, the most obvious one (and also chosen in my last PBEM) is Vavau. Bigger harbour than Suva if you build it up, in case you need to. But it is by far not the only one: Lifuka, Tongatapu, and further south a few places in the Cook Islands, last but not least, Tahiti, if you really have to deviate far South because of a Japanese attack.

I reccommend building up an efficient and a alternate route, where the alternate can be used in case the efficient one is threatened. When the fronts stabilize the routes obviousely move a bit further North, maybe along the Phoenix/Ellis Islands and later the Gilberts and Marshalls, if this is still neccesary by then.

Well..you need base that can be build to 10 combined (airfield and port combined, 5+5 as average) to make it really viable supply hub. Of course Suva is high on IJ list for obvious reasons, and similarly Allies should make big effort to retain it.

There are alternatives, as you and others have stated, and they work well too. Just that losing Suva & New Caledonia forces Allies to have fairly limited "Central Pacific strategy". Suva is both excellent supply dump and staging area for future advance.

Correcting small typo error here. An early patch reduced the non-spoilage feature to apply to bases built up to a combined level 9. This change made many small island dot bases potential candidates to be developed into hubs.

OK, I've seen this one a couple of times, but haven't figured it out yet--Oz? I don't guess that's in Kansas, is it?

Oz = Australia, a wonderful place to visit if you are single, American, and male.

Something that came up on CombatReporter last night indicated that I was running low on oil for Heavy Industry. But, I was under the impression that Allies don't really need to worry about oil and resources. Is there any point in moving these around, and if so, where should they get moved to?

I've been following Sardaukar's newbie AAR, and that's been a fantastic help, but I'm not entirely clear about where smart places are to stockpile supplies and fuel, other than Suva and Pearl. I'm assuming there's somewhere in Australia that is commonly used. Are there other natural distribution centers?

There are many threads devoted to Allied logistics. I'd do some poking and some experimenting. You'll get lots of POVs if you ask here and all will have pros and cons. Me, I wouldn't put a can of corn in Suva let alone make it a major log base. Other opinions differ.

As Bullwinkle said, there are many, many, many threads on logistics. Reading one thread will not suffice. Means players who wish to master the subject have to do a lot of research themselves.

Anyway below are relevant threads to read. I'll be editing this post soon as I only know of one technique for including links one at a time.

That should be enough to start off with. There are many other relevant threads not listed above. One overview thread not to be overlooked, for as night follows day, the OP is going to ask this soon, is the following "Logistics 101" thread.

What kind of timeframe does it take to start to get all the supply lines worked out so you start to prosecute the war? Should things be falling into place by, say, mid-1942? I'm finding that just sorting the tankers and AKs is a full-time job for the first several weeks.

I am usually starting my offensives by mid-42, as you mentioned. Deciding which bases you'll use and building them up rapidly is key. Early on you don't have all that much to defend a base with, so you either have to wait or risk losing the engineers to a Japanese invasion.

Another tactic is to strip the Philippines and Dutch East Indies of every land based unit and ship you can escape with. There are three base units in the PI's that can be sent south to Darwin, and a couple of Dutch and British units as well. I send all of them to Darwin, and have them build up that base ASAP. I also run fuel convoys from Java and Borneo down to Darwin right up until Surabaya falls, to build up a fuel reserve.

In my current game, it's 1/43 and I have retaken the Solomons from Torokina down to Lunga, along with the islands east of New Guinea. I also hold two of the atolls south of Apamama in the Central Pacific. My main bases are Suva, Noumea, and Luganville, along with Lunga and Tulagi in the Solomons.

ORIGINAL: ChadS What kind of timeframe does it take to start to get all the supply lines worked out so you start to prosecute the war? Should things be falling into place by, say, mid-1942? I'm finding that just sorting the tankers and AKs is a full-time job for the first several weeks.

yeah, it takes a while to get things sorted, but by 6/42 you should be well-organized - all the low-endurance ships flee to Oz or India, the high-endurance ones go to CT. IMO you should use at least half your EC<>CT xAKs convoys w/ fuel for Cape Town, it's a bugger if CT dries up. early on (& later on as well) it's your on-map fuel convoys that need the most protection from raiders, your combat fleets need fuel to operate effectively, every time you lose a TK/AO you're losing a bit from your combat options. losing some of them is inevitable, losing a lot of them is avoidable!

early-war, check all your off-map bases & the on-map ports that receive their convoys. you need to build up these ports w/ engrs, & improve their un/load capacity w/ Navsupport - check these bases to turn replacements ON for LCUs that don't begin the game at full strength.

by mid-42 you'll start to get new AKs & TKs on the WC or at Balboa, check your ship reinforcement screen for new arrivals, send ASW ships to escort them from, say, Portland down to LA.

also, there's quite a few ships in the initial allied transport fleet that can be upgraded to APAs or AKAs. you need to find all these guys and send them to safety at Mare Island or Alameda, to await their upgrades. you're gonna need them all, to create effective AmphTFs.

The problem with not using or risking the AK/AP ships until you can convert them to AKA/APA types is that doesn't happen until mid-1943. The AK/AP ships will still unload faster than the xAP/xAK types, so they are valuable in your early invasion attempts as well. I do use these ships early on but I make sure I have them well defended with surface ships and escorts in the TF, and often a CVTF nearby to provide some kind of CAP over them as well.

BTW, several of those AP types were used at the actual Operation Watchtower invasion of Guadalcanal; IIRC one was sunk and some others were damaged, so even though they are valuable later they still should be used before they can be upgraded.

the AKs convert in 3/43, the APs in 6/43. i've nothing against using them, if they're well-protected as John has outlined. perhaps my advice should have been, locate & assemble them into protected groups early in the game, & avoid using them for general-cargo duty that can be handled by other ships. it wouldn't be good to have them scattered all over the Pacific, far from the yards, as their conversion date approaches.